fan
verb/fæn/
/fæn/
Verb Forms
Idioms Phrasal Verbs| present simple I / you / we / they fan | /fæn/ /fæn/ |
| he / she / it fans | /fænz/ /fænz/ |
| past simple fanned | /fænd/ /fænd/ |
| past participle fanned | /fænd/ /fænd/ |
| -ing form fanning | /ˈfænɪŋ/ /ˈfænɪŋ/ |
- fan somebody/something/yourself to make air blow onto somebody/something by waving a fan, your hand, etc.
- He fanned himself with a newspaper to cool down.
- A warm breeze fanned her cheeks.
- fan something to make a fire burn more strongly by blowing on it
- Fanned by a westerly wind, the fire spread rapidly through the city.
- fan something (literary) to make a feeling, an attitude, etc. stronger synonym fuel
- His reluctance to answer her questions simply fanned her curiosity.
Word Originverb Old English fann (as a noun denoting a device for winnowing grain), fannian (verb), from Latin vannus ‘winnowing fan’. Compare with vane.
Idioms
See fan in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionaryfan the flames (of something)
- to make a feeling such as anger, hate, etc. worse
- His writings fanned the flames of racism.
Check pronunciation:
fan